“What is wrong with this person?”
We all picture the hiring managers cringing when they look at our resume and see that we have not been employed for every solitary second of our adult life.
We long for the chance to say, “No… it’s fine, there’s nothing wrong with me. Give me a chance!”
In reality, most of the time a hiring manager sees a gap, they either:
a) Won’t notice it
b) Won’t care about it
c) Will assume a perfectly logical explanation for the gap
This is why, on 95% of the resumes I’ve written for clients, I have not acknowledged gaps in employment.
However…
It can, on occasion, be useful to do so. So knowing when and how to explain employment gaps in your resume is important. That’s what I’m here to help you with today.
Hopefully this infographic is helpful, but of course like everything, this needs a bit more context. And every situation is unique so don’t apply any of this advice without considering how it applies to your unique situation.
Feel free to skim the headlines until you find the situation that applies to you.
Covid-19 related unemployment
First thing’s first…
If you’re unemployed due to COVID-19, and / or you have a gap in your resume that started anytime between March 2020 and now, you do not need to explain…
Millions of people lost their jobs at the same time for the same reason and employers know what’s going on, so don’t worry on that front.
If you have a job right now
Good news… no one is all that worried about past employment gaps. Especially if you’ve been in your current job for a while or if your employment gap is a year or more back. They’ll see you’ve been working for a while and will trust that you are “employable”. You’re good.
The only time I’d recommend explaining an employment gap if you currently have a job is if that employment gap was less than a year ago and it lasted a significant amount of time (more than a year). Then they might raise an eyebrow and, in that case, explaining could be a good idea.
If you are currently unemployed
If you’ve got a long track record of working (5+ years) and this is the first time you’ve been out of work, it’s still not going to be a huge deal in the eyes of the hiring manager.
If you’ve been out of work for over a year, explaining yourself could be a good idea though. Especially if you have a good reason (which we’ll talk about shortly).
If you’ve had multiple gaps in employment
If you took 2 years off a couple years ago, that’s generally no big deal. However, if there are chronic gaps in your experience that are longer than 2-3 months, this may raise some eyebrows and explaining them will be to your benefit.
Bottom line: If you are nervous / worried about how the hiring managers are going to perceive the gaps in your resume, and you’ve got a good reason for those gaps, feel free to explain. Just know that most of the time, it’s not as big of a deal as you think.
What’s a Good Reason for an Employment Gap?
There are lots. Examples include:
Educational Leave
Family Care Leave
Relocation Leave
Travel Leave
Personal Health Leave
Parental/Maternity Leave
And so many more!
If any of these apply to you and you want to include them in your resume, slide them in where they would fit chronologically in your resume among your experience along with the dates.
**Warning: Some of these reasons have historically caused unfavourable biases from the hiring manager (personal health, maternity leave, etc.) so just beware of that possibility when deciding whether or not to mention it. I’d like to think most hiring managers wouldn’t hold something like that against you, but there are probably still some out there who will. It’s your private information so it’s up to you to decide.
What if I Don’t Have a Good Reason?
First off, this situation is very common. Maybe you completed a contract that didn’t get renewed. Maybe you had to be let go or you quit for one reason or another and you just had trouble getting back in the job market.
3 months turned into 6 months, and then it was a year and now you’re worried no one will ever hire you again…
Don’t panic.
This is common. You are not alone. And this is fixable.
In this scenario, we don’t really have anything to explain away our gap. So we’ve got to make sure that we absolutely maximize all the experience we do have to sell ourselves as amazing and outweigh any doubts caused by our gaps in employment.
How Do I Sell Myself in Just the Right Way?
It starts by knowing exactly what the hiring manager is looking for so you can make yourself the ideal candidate in your resume, cover letter, LinkedIn profile, and in interviews as well.
Best way to find out how to do that…
